SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Endicott College, the defending champion, has been tabbed as the favorite to win the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's soccer championship after receiving six first place votes and a total of 95 points in the CCC preseason poll. Roger Williams University earned second place with 86 points and two first place votes. Gordon College, the 2013 runner-up, claimed third with 81 points and garnered one first place vote, while the University of New England recorded 62 points for fourth and Wentworth was selected fifth after receiving 56 points to round out the top billing.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head women's soccer coaches.

The 2013 CCC championship proved to be a rather tight matchup, as Endicott edged Gordon by a 3-1 advantage in penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie through all regulation and overtime periods would not break. After claiming their first CCC title since 2009, the Gulls earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. In the first round of the national tournament, Endicott recorded a 1-0 victory over Scranton. This was the fifth time in program history and the fourth consecutive time in their four most recent appearances that Endicott recorded an NCAA win.  The Gulls would see their tournament run end as they faced a tough Middlebury squad, one of the stingiest defenses in the region, as they fell 2-1 in the second round. Roger Williams also competed in the postseason at the ECAC tournament. The Hawks were tabbed the No. 1 seed and claimed a 5-0 victory over Elms in the quarterfinals. Albertus Magnus would end Roger Williams' run in the semifinals after earning a 2-1 overtime victory over the Hawks.

Wentworth Institute of Technology (7-9-4, 4-3-2 CCC) won its first CCC tournament game since the 2009 season before losing to eventual champion Endicott in overtime in the semifinals. Third-year head coach Bobby Desilets welcomes back 20 players from last season, including four who earned All-CCC honors. Senior Olivia Moore (Salem, Conn.) set a program single-season record with 42 points, en route to being named First Team All-CCC. Sophomore Amanda Weinberger (Colchester, Conn.) became the program's second-ever CCC Rookie of the Year last season after she tallied eight goals and three assists for 19 points. Also among the Leopard returners are a pair of sophomores who were Honorable Mention All-CCC selections, Rachel Perras (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Morgan Miller (Schenectady, N.Y.), both of whom helped the Leopards lower the number of goals allowed per game.

Nine of the ten CCC women's soccer teams will kick off their quest for the 2014 conference title this weekend. The top eight teams in the 2014 regular-season conference standings will qualify for the conference tournament, which gets underway Saturday, November 1, with quarterfinal action. The winners of the quarterfinal matchups will move on to the semifinals on Tuesday, November 4. The two semifinal victors will battle for the CCC championship on Saturday, November 8.

Click HERE to view the 2014 CCC Women's Soccer composite schedule.

2014 CCC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll

(Portions of this release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference office)